Dr. Frederick Taylor presently focuses on Quaternary and contemporary crustal motions in the Southwest Pacific using coral reefs as recorders of tectonic deformation in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands. The main objective is to determine the relationship between the elastic earthquake cycle surrounding the main interplate thrust zone and longer-term net vertical deformation of the forearc. He also is working with colleagues to investigate both general late Holocene sea level trends and climate driven sea-level anomalies in the western tropical Pacific. The Federated States of Micronesia, Pohnpei, Chuuk, and Kosrae should be good recorders of mean global sea level and are the host for large coral microatolls that should retain precise records of both the amount and precise timing of paleosea level.

Areas of Expertise

Tectonic geomorphology, stratigraphy, and paleogeodesy/paleoseismology at convergent plate margins
Paleoclimate, fossil corals as a proxy for past sea-surface temperatures. Corals as recorders of relative sea level for vertical tectonics and sea-level history.